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Environment Canterbury (ECan) has appealed the sentence handed Christchurch company Steelbro over an incident where fuel thieves caused a diesel spill from its Sockburn site, polluting the Heathcote River and sparking a week-long clean-up operation.
Judge Jeffrey Smith, in the Christchurch District Court on November 1, fined Steelbro $10,000, ordered it to make safety improvements to the site at a cost of $16,000, and to reimburse ECan $20,000 of the $80,000 in costs it incurred responding to the spill.
Today, ECan said it had filed an appeal in the High Court, and would explain the full reasons for this appeal when the matter was heard.
The February 2005 spill was caused when thieves stole diesel and then left a tank to drain. The offenders were never found.
An estimated 3000 litres of diesel were washed into the Heathcote River.
Volunteers spent days mopping up the spill, and capturing and cleaning hundreds of birds caught in the slick.
Steelbro was found guilty on two charges relating to the discharge in February 2005.
The company was found to be responsible because its omissions had failed to secure the diesel pump, or to have a power cut off and an interception drain in place on the night it was raided.
At the district court hearing, counsel for ECan argued the company should have to pay the bulk of the $44,000 clean-up costs, rather than ratepayers having to pick up the bill. ECan's total costs were put at $80,000.
Defence counsel said Steelbro accepted the judge's ruling that it had not taken adequate steps to ensure the security of the site, but asked the judge to accept that the company had been a victim, too.
- NZPA
